Cllr Pat Kavanagh resigns from the Green Party

Green Party town councillor Pat Kavanagh has resigned from the Green Party. She handed her letter of resignation in on the final day of the Green Party convention in Waterford.

Pat plans to remain an Independent Green councillor. She along with other disaffected and ex-Greens plan to form an alternative, decentralised federation with a national green agenda. Others involved are the Donegal Greens and David Grey.

Her full press release and letter of resignation are reproduced below.

PRESS STATEMENT:
Green Party Town Councillor for Wicklow Town, Pat Kavanagh, today announced her resignation from the Green Party/Comhaontas Glas. Cllr Kavanagh was one of 17 successful candidates for the Green Party in the June 2009 Local Elections, but by October 2009 was an active campaigner against the NAMA Bill. Cllr Kavanagh wishes to reassure her local constituents that she intends to keep her Wicklow Town Council seat as an Independent Green and along with other disaffected and ex-Greens, is working towards providing the electorate with an alternative, decentralised Federation.

Letter of Resignation to General Secretary:
28th March 2010
I wish to tender my resignation from Wicklow Green Party and The Green Party/Comhaontas Glas with immediate effect. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow members of Wicklow Green Party for all their support and endeavours at local level throughout Co Wicklow.
Unfortunately, I can no longer stand over certain decisions made on behalf of the Green Party at Government level, or justify them to myself or to my constituents, particularly in relation to the NAMA Bill, appointments to State Boards and the National Pensions Framework. I see a continuously eroding democracy within the party where ‘spin’ and manipulation by management are becoming the norm, and a chasm between stated Party policies and the implementation of those policies. This is not the party I signed up to and it no longer represents my position.
I am leaving the Party with respect and affection for all those sincerely principled grass roots members that I have met during my time in The Green Party/Comhaontas Glas, in particular the members of Wicklow Green Party. I hope to continue to work with them, where possible, in a spirit of co-operation as an Independent Green Councillor. Along with other disaffected and ex-Greens, I will continue to pursue a National Green Agenda as part of an alternative, decentralised Federation.

I wish to sincerely thank the staff of The Green Party/Comhaontas Glas for their courtesy and kindness throughout my time in the Party.

Cllr Pat Kavanagh
Wicklow Town Council